Controversial Sorority
by Tru Mel Meiko Mei Ling
Summary: Azureshipping. Seto Kaiba and Tea have been dating a bit in high school, then broke up when she became more interested in Yugi. While she tries to move on to get closer to her friend, Seto finds himself, and her, in frequent unsettling situations.
1. Graduates

_**A/N: Old story. I'm bringing it back.**_

_**--**_

Controversial Sorority

**BRING! BRING!**

Seto Kaiba's ancient alarm clock annoyingly resonated throughout the room at exactly 4:45 a.m.

Still half asleep, and thinking it was the telephone that was ringing, the hand of a young man reached out and picked up the receiver.---But it wasn't Seto Kaiba!

Listlessly holding the phone to his ear, he murmured a groggy " hello?" into the mouthpiece, completely ignoring the dial tone.

"No, no, Joey", lightly came Tea's voice from directly beside him in the bed. She sleepily rubbed his shoulder to get him to wake up and realize his folly.

Huh? What's that?

No, Téa and Joey did not copulate last night.

The whole gang just had the time of their lives at their after graduation party four hours ago.

After hours of playing free games and eating whatever they could get their hands on at the ESPN Zone, they were all too tired to leave the place.

Seto Kaiba, who had actually enjoyed himself quite a bit gathering information from one of his rival companies rather than with the games themselves, offered to take the gang to his place to sleep.

Actually, he more of demanded them to.

He only did it because Téa was with them, and he knew that if he tried to pry her away from her friends, he'd never hear the end of her nagging.

They had all fallen asleep in the limo, so he had to order the driver to haul the boys into the mansion, while he carried Téa over his shoulder.

Why didn't he carry her in his arms? He had his reasons.....

After smacking some of the boys awake to move someplace comfortable, like the floor or the couch, Seto made his way upstairs to his room, and laid Téa in his bed.

He left a kiss on her forehead before he proceeded to leave the room on an account of business.

For a good half hour Téa WAS the only one in the bed, until Joey came along looking for a more "gentle" place to sleep. He and Kaiba still didn't get along that well, but ---a bed was a bed to him.

Realizing that there was a Joey in the bed, Téa forcefully pushed him out, causing him to fall in a sleepy heap on the floor.

After a slur of aimless curses, he somehow found his way back into the bed; resulting in being kicked out this time. And when he came back after that, Téa just gave up, and proceeded to share the same bed with---a Joey.

A groggy moan was Joey's reply, as he attempted one more "hello" into the phone before placing it back down.

As he slipped his upper body back into the bed, his dreary ears caught the sound of banging behind him, and the irritating alarm ceased.

"Sorry about that" Téa apologized. Then she turned on her side and snuggled upto her friend's back to keep warm.

Joey, who was still combating drowsiness and losing, scoffed and muttered into the pillows, his words coming out as slurs, "Damn Kaiba. Why can't he be more---hi tech an' buy a clock---wiff a silent alarm o' sumthin'. "

A smile inched across Téa's lips at this remark. Before the break-up, she and Seto had been dating for the 2nd and 3rd quarters of school, so she knew Kaiba better than any of her friends.

She remembered him telling her that he didn't like the electronic cell clocks for two reasons:

Reason #1- The hi-pitched alarms were too annoying

Reason #2- The florescent light from the numbers hurt his eyes and got him very cantankerous.

She giggled in remembrance, then snuggled deeper into Joey's back, which pushed him closer to the edge of the bed each time.

"Think about it. If the alarm were silent, how would he wake up?"

Joey was silent for a moment.

Téa couldn't tell if he had gone back to sleep, or if he were in the deep process of formulating a decent answer.

She had to admit, she expected the first one, but the latter wouldn't surprise her much, either.

Not realizing how close he was to the edge, Joey shifted his weight a little, and grumbled. " Kaiba's good at makin' hi-tech shtuff. Tell him to make a clock dat vibrates or sumthin'---like a pager."

"...A clock like a pager?"

"Sure,....... why not.", Joey shrugged, "----He's got---- all da time in da world to do somethin' like---" Joey trailed off.

Téa became mildly concerned, as she forced herself upto her elbows and placed her chin on top of his arm. A few thin strands of hair and split ends stuck to the ends of her eyes, and she lazily blew at them to set them straight.

Peering down at Joey through drowsy eyes, she could make out that he had complained himself back to sleep.

A thin smile snuck across her lips as she watched him. Joey looked just like a little boy when he slept.

And it must have been some well-needed sleep too. He had already started to drool.

Téa playfully wrinkled her nose, and slid back into her pillows.

"Joey, you idiot.", she muttered.

Then at that moment, Téa heard the distant sound of clopping coming from downstairs

Clopping? It sounded like---

"Seto!!", she gasped, covering her mouth to stifle her surprise. She knew the sound of his heavy Timberland bootsteps anywhere.

Knowing him, he had returned home early just to check on her. Yet, if that were the case, she had to get out of the bed quick before Seto caught her and Joey in a controversial misunderstanding.

"Oh no..", Téa muttered, as she threw off the covers, and slipped out of bed. She had to grab hold of the bedposts to keep herself from falling from somnolence.

Steadily, she made her way across the room, and paused at the doorway, listening for anymore sounds.

Letting her curiosity get the better of her, she nervously straightened out her t-shirt, and proceeded to make her way down the steps.

Once she got there, her attention hooked directly on Seto, who seemed to be occupied with something, standing near the back of the couch. She was so caught up in watching him, wondering what he could be doing when she clumsily tripped over her own feet, but quickly caught herself as silently as she could.

Her best didn't seem to be enough though, as Seto turned away from his previous engagement and looked directly towards her.

With embarrassment causing a blush to consume her whole body, Téa froze, and stared at Seto.

Not liking to be stared at for no reason, Seto frowned a bit, then proceeded to walk over to her.

Téa, alarmed, took a hesitant step back.

Seto saw her stumble, and hurried to just in time to slip a protective arm around her waist to stable her.

After an awkward silence, Téa recomposed herself, and smiled as sweetly as she could to Seto, but it came out drenched in pure guiltiness.

Seto caught onto this. He knew she was hiding something, but he simply shrugged it off.

"Hey", Téa said softly, as she placed a hand on his chest and stood on her toes to give him a quick kiss on the lips.

Even though they were apart, now, they were still rather good friends---and this type of 'good friends' was something rather new that the Kaiba would have to get used to.

Téa blinked at him being so quiet. "Where's Yugi?"

"Shh.", Seto signaled her to keep her voice down, as he left her and walked over to the couch. After following him, Seto pointed down the spiky-haired graduate, who was covered with warm sheets and snuggled in the cushions of the couch.

So, Seto had been covering him up to keep him warm? Well, that was what Tèa thought anyway.

In actuality, Seto was glaring at the pint-sized duelist, wondering why his former girlfriend desired to leave him for such a runt. But he wouldn't dare tell her that. Yet.

An exuberant smile rested upon Téa's lips, as she let loose a sigh of relief. She kept her eyes on Yugi as memories started to flow within her mind.

'We finally did it.', she thought, directing her mental words to Yugi as if he could hear them while in his slumber, 'We all hit the big day, and now we're High School graduates!'

Seeing that this was turning out to be a mushy moment between the two, Seto stepped away from them, and took his leave into the kitchen.

Téa ignored him, and kept all of her attention on Yugi, as she brushed a slender finger across his lips, catching the faintest hint of drool that resided there.

"We've all been through so much, Yugi", she cooed, "And now.....we can celebrate together....just the two of us---"

THUD!!

"Huh!?" Téa yelped as she jumped back from the sudden sound. She looked upto the ceiling.

It sounded like it came from upstairs.

Then it hit her. Joey was upstairs!!

"That stupid idiot! He probably fell out the bed!!" Then she froze. If Kaiba had heard the sound, then he would know that there was unauthorized someone sleeping in his bed.

Téa closed her eyes, expecting the worst. "Oh great.."

Just at that moment, Seto came flying out of the kitchen with an apron on and an oven mitt on his hand.

Téa giggled at the sight. She never even knew WHY Seto had bothered buying that gear. He was such an awful cook and he was the only man Téa knew of who could set fire to iced tea.

Directing his attention to her, Seto narrowed his eyes. "What was that sound?"

"Um...", Téa drolled unintelligently while trying to rack her brain for a decent sounding excuse.

"It sounded like it came from my room..."

"Uh..well um..you see uh..", Téa stammered, but before she could utter any protests, Seto had already begun to dash to the stairs, tossing his cooking wear aside.

Téa blinked. Maybe Seto wouldn't be too upset to find a ---a Joey sleeping in his bed, after all?

Well...he was most likely on the floor now, but still.....

She sighed, already beginning to feel the impact of her controvert conclusion.

A few moments later, Seto came marching down the steps, with Joey draped over one of his arms, like a dishtowel.

Téa gulped, just knowing he'd get upset and read this the wrong way. But much to her surprise, his grave expression transformed into that of a level of smugness Téa had never thought possible by a Kaiba of his standards.

"Seto..I uh.."

"Shush." Seto replied, placing a finger to her lips.

Téa's eyes glanced down to his finger, then went upto his eyes, and fleeted between them; trying to determine which one of them were denying the truth, or simply just toying with her.

She had to admit, she never did like guessing games, and after all these years....she STILL didn't like them.

Her face started to scrunch up in a scowl to protest, and Seto knew a slew of nags would come out of that mouth.

Setting the drowsy blonde against a wall, he turned to Téa and proceed to get closer to her until their faces were about 3 inches apart.

But instead of kissing her, he simply bumped foreheads with her and whispered a dry: "Got you."

With a smug "Hn", Seto easily maneuvered out of the way of Téa's wild arm flinging.

It had always been like this between the two of them. Téa would just be going on and on about something, while Seto was trying to work. More often than not, he would stop his progress and just stare at her, just like she always stared at him, and he hated that.

Just when she was about to comment, he'd distract her, then fake her out.

And she'd get mad----

If not for Mokuba always playing that "Look a UFO!" gag every now and then, Seto would have never learned the odd satisfaction in duping someone in such childish ways.

That type of low-standard humor was not his style, but he had to admit it riled Tèa up in such a way he thought was attractive, even if it was a bit annoying.

"SETO!!!", Téa growled, quickly forgetting about Yugi and the others sleeping.

But Seto placed a finger to her lips and gave her a serious expression.

"You talk too much.", said he, as he turned and proceeded to go back into the kitchen. "I'll fix you some tea, while you're up."

Safe within the vicinity of his ballroom of a kitchen, Seto let loose a sigh before leaning up against the door.

That Téa----she really did talk too much. But it was always just enough to slip under the "being cute" category.

Little did she know, that if she and him had not broken up, and if she had not gone back to catching up with Yugi, Seto would have not hesitated to dip low and scoop up her words while changing them into hungry kisses.

With a faint chuckle, Seto shook the thoughts away, then proceeded to fix some tea for his big time graduate.

--

-Mel


	2. Crazy Mornings

Controversial Sorority

Chapter 2

--

Later that wonderful morning.............

Yugi and Tristan were in two different bathrooms of the Kaiba Mansion washing themselves up, while Ryou was awake and lightly dressed in a thin yellow t-shirt sitting at the breakfast table.

He contented himself with two slices of buttered toast and a tall glass of apple juice, because as much as he liked orange juice, it parched his throat, and Bakura did not like it one bit. Bakura also didn't like milk much, either. So, as to kill two birds with one stone, he didn't drink either one at all.

Seto was in the kitchen, trying to fix a decent breakfast with squid and boiled eggs. Broken bits of a Final Fantasy X: Tidus and Yuna's Tribute laid scattered about the counter next to the stove.

Seto despised Go Dream with a passion. It belonged to his younger brother, and he would NOT stop playing it for anything.

But thankfully, Mokuba was over at a friend's house for the week. He wouldn't miss it one little bit.....

That left Téa's and Joey's basking in the morning's glory!

The two were in complete solace with each other, weaving in and out of every room and corridor, yelling and throwing things at each other.

Joey would run around shouting crude remarks to Téa as he swung her bra around on his wrist, while reciting her bust size aloud, and she eagerly made chase after him, threatening to wring his neck like a chicken.

How cute.

Don't you just love the mornings?

"Joey, I'm not playing with you, give it BACK to me!" Téa screamed, as they entered the Dinning Room. Passing a vase, she snatched it up and aimlessly hurled it at Joey, nearly missing his head by two inches.

The vase crashed into the doorway in front of him, and he alarmingly dodged out of the way.

Risking a glance back at the enraged brunette, he spread out his arms, and pointed to himself. "Hey! What are you tryin' ta DO ta me?!"

Téa growled, but felt herself slowing down. She was growing so weary, that she had to slip an arm around the bust of her tank top as she paused to speak with him. Those things were so heavy! Especially with nothing holding them up, they felt like logs!

Joey watched Téa as she busily caught her breath, the thought crossing his mind about a million times if he should go over to help her --

Help her?

With WHAT!?

She'd go upside his head, not once, but two times if he tried anything, even if it were labeled as a "good intention"!

Joey hesitated, as Téa then glared at him. Her energy was then instantly recharged! With a start, she lunged herself at him; teeth barred, hair blazing, claws exposed and ready....

If Joey didn't know any better, he'd assume she was preparing to attack him.

But not this time.

As the enraged Téa made her way closer to him, Joey didn't make a move.

He waited until she was a good 5 seconds away from him, then casually stepped aside.

At that moment, he heard a soft voice call out to him from behind.

It was Yugi!!

He had just come out of the bathroom, with a towel around his waist. As he rubbed the remaining sleep from his eyes, he barely had the chance to utter a good morning, before Téa's flying form collided with him and they rolled and tumbled around on the floor.

"Owww..", Téa mumbled, rubbing her bum. Then realizing that she had practically tackled Yugi to the floor, towel and all, she quickly focused all her divided attention on him.

"Yugi..? Yugi??"

In a state of shock and bewilderment, Yugi said nothing for awhile. His mouth was stuck in a gape.

If this was the way to get Téa to pounce on him like that, he'd have to find the pleasure and the joy in taking morning strolls in nothing but a towel more often!

He could get rather used to this....

Téa blinked at him, and tapped on his cheek. "Yugi?? Yugi?"

CLICK!! FLASH!

Téa quickly turned at the sound of a camera clicking. Much to her despise, there was Tristan, clad in a robe with a Polaroid in his hand.

As the picture slid out of the camera, Joey snatched it up between two fingers, and waved it tauntingly in front of Téa.

"That," Tristan stated, cocking his head towards Joey, "..Was for consolation. And this..." he paused as he took yet another picture of Téa's scowling face, "Is for Miho!!"

Téa growled at them, trying to resist the urge to go up and slap those primitive smirks off their faces, but she was a little ...anchored down at the moment.

And Yugi did not seem to mind at all.

Speaking of Yugi, why had he gotten so silent all of a sudden?

Téa mocked their childishness by sticking her tongue out at the two as they slapped hands and scampered off. Then she turned her attention to Yugi.

But the red-violet eyes that stared at her now were those of Yami's!

Alarmed by Yami's sudden appearance, Téa blinked and slid a lock of hair behind her ear.

Yami usually appeared when Yugi was hurt or overwhelmed--but...why was he here this time?

"Yami! What are you doing here? Where is Yugi?"

"Yugi is in Heaven right now because of you.", Yami stated placidly, narrowing his eyes at her.

Téa broke into a cold sweat at his blunt remark, not being able to tell if he were joking or not. "Um...look, Yami, I'm really sorry. Could you please wake Yugi up so I can talk with him please?"

After a brief and wordless stare, Yami agreed, and a light flash emitted from the Millennium Puzzle, and Yugi appeared back in his place.

The look of pure innocence was on his face, as he looked up to Téa.

Téa smiled at this. He had grown into quite the handsome young man. Yugi was always the mature one, even though his baby face suggested otherwise.

While the others were always busy enjoying their free-time like nobody's business, Yugi was always the one who kept a cool head, and planned to have his fun after sorting out pre-college business.

That was just one of the things that Téa admired and secretly loved so much about him.

"Yugi...."

"Hmm?"

"I..." And now she felt like such a dummy for losing her cool the way she did earlier. It was just a silly old bra that Joey had grabbed a hold of; how she would never know.

Wait a minute.

This was Seto's house! She remembered last summer, right before they broke up she took a shower in one of his guest bathrooms not that far from his room.

She must have left it there....and he still had it?! After all this time?! She didn't want to think about why.

On the other hand, maybe he just forgot about it being there. He had so many other bathrooms honeycombed through the place to make a bee-hive jealous, she wouldn't be surprised if he never even saw it once.

But--Joey on the other hand....what would he do with it...?

Téa shuddered. She didn't even want to think about it!

"Téa, are you all right?"

Yugi's gentle voice brought her back to her senses, and she shook her head to clear her thoughts. "I--I'm sorry, Yugi. "

"Um...and I'm sorry too.."

"Huh? Sorry? For what?"

A medium blush spread itself all across Yugi's face from his next statement. "Um..I'm sorry for...feeling your um...bum..."

"Huh!?" Téa exclaimed, as she looked down, and turned bright red at what she saw.

She had been sitting on Yugi's hand the whole time!

"Um...it's really warm, and...I'm..starting to lose the sensation of feeling in my arm, now....."

With frequent apologies, Téa scrambled off of Yugi.

--

A bit of a slow start.

-Mel


	3. More Craziness

Controversial Sorority

Chapter 3

--

Joey and Tristan took turns throwing Téa's bra around and making adolescent comments, as they rounded a bend leading into the Breakfast Room.

Ryou was still seated at the table, quietly and contentedly sipping his juice when Joey and Tristan not so quietly came in.

Setting down his cup, he looked towards the two. "Hey guys, what's--Ah!"

He immediately had to duck as a flash of white and pink flew over his head and hit the wall behind him.

Tristan and Joey, especially, had utter dumbfounded looks on their faces, as Joey's hands were still positioned in a "firing" position.

Cautiously and hesitantly, Ryou lifted his head, then looked behind him at the projectile, which was Téa's bra, that nearly wrapped around his face.

He gasped at it, then turned back to Joey, grasping the bra firmly in his hand. "You guys, what do you think you're doing?! This is Téa's, isn't it?"

Tristan and Joey said nothing for a moment, exchanged glances, then broke out into hilarious laughter.

Ryou blinked innocently at their behavior. Even after all these years, Ryou was still innocently cute and pretty. Even though Bakura had his own comments about our lovely protagonist, we'll leave him and his snide commentaries out of this!

"You guys!! Just what did you do!?? And why'd you throw it at me?!!"

Joey had to try his best to hold back his laughter as he answered Ryou, but it wasn't working. "I--I'm sorry, Ryou!"

Ryou simply frowned, then tossed the bra aside and sat down in his chair with his arms crossed.

"Aww..Come on, I said I was sorry!!" Joey chuckled. He and Tristan playfully made their way over to the table, with Joey being in the lead.

Just as Joey was about to take another step, Tristan clipped him up---sending Joey flying right into the table.

By doing so, everything on that end of the table fell over and got knocked off---including Ryou's cup of apple juice, which jumped up and spilled all over his body!!

With a chilling yelp, Ryou sprang up and looked down.

The material that he was wearing was so thin, that after it got wet, the cloth stuck to his body, showcasing his leanly cut muscles for all to see!!!

Cursing, Joey quickly got up from the table and tried to apologize to Ryou, who had his chest covered with his arms.

With a pleading cry, Ryou ordered Joey not to look at him.

At this moment, the door to the kitchen opened, and Seto emerged with an oven mitt on one hand and his latest creation in the other.

Seeing Bakura trying cover himself so dramatically and frantically, and the innocently GUILTY expression on Joey's face, Seto wordlessly stepped on the pedal of a nearby trash can, and dumped his newest creation in the garbage.

This looked so typical and childish of them, that he didn't even WANT to know what had been going on.

Instead, he narrowed his eyes at them, and with a dead-pan expression, he stated plainly: "That was breakfast."

With that, he started to go back into the kitchen, then paused when a thought came to him.

Reluctantly, he decided to ask them about it.

"...Where's Téa?"

Joey, Tristan and Ryou said nothing, but started guiltily at Seto.

Téa was with Yugi. She had been running around chasing Joey all over the mansion, that morning, and then accidentally tackled Yugi to the floor.

After taking pictures of them, Joey and Tristan ran off and left them there.

"Um..", Joey meekly started to speak, as he didn't bother thinking over what he was going to say first, "Well...the last time we saw Téa, she was on Yugi and..."

Seto raised a suspecting eyebrow. "On...Yugi?"

"On? Oh!! Nah Nah I mean---!!"

Joey didn't get to finish by Tristan giving him a solid jab in the gut with his elbow.

After Joey dropped to the floor in a painful heap, Tristan seamlessly took over. "What Joey means is that Téa was WITH Yugi on the floor."

Seto's eyes narrowed, as he threw his mitt aside. "On the floor with Yugi...?"

That did it!

Seto knew that Téa wanted to get closer to Yugi, but not this fast!

Mumbling a few curses, he pushed past them, telling them to order some carry out or something.

With a playful salute, Joey sprang up, instantly recovered, and Tristan did the same.

Ryou, on the other hand, didn't share their silliness. Instead he kept himself covered, as he left the room and went upstairs.

"This is gonna be fun!", Joey said to Tristan, who was already on his way to getting the phone.

"Yep!! Sally's Expensive Sushi-house, here we come!"

--

Seto stormed throughout the hallways and corridors with finding Yugi and Téa on his mind.

Ever since the break up, Téa had always said that she wanted to be closer to Yugi.

Seto was free then.

He could've gone with any girl who threw themselves at his feet, but he didn't want that. Téa was the only girl that had interested him, then and--

He paused.

Just what was he doing!?

Téa had a life of her own. Whatever she wanted was her decision, not his.

But even though it wasn't his decision, it WAS still his concern.

With a sigh, he ran a hand through his mahogany colored hair and smiled.

Téa was moving on in her life, now, and he was proud of her for that.

Unfortunately that was something he just couldn't do himself --not yet.

With allowing that thought to wallow in his mind, Seto spun on his heels, and started back into the Breakfast Room.

--

-riiiing riiiiing. Riiing rii-click!-

"Hello?", a Mandarin accented voice asked from the receiver.

"Um.. yes, hello, Sally?", Joey confirmed, while glancing over the menu, "Um..I'm calling from the---"

"Kaiba Residence, yes, I see! Your address on my computer!"

"Really!? All right! I'd like 5 orders of your Sushi Deluxe, and---"

-CLICK!-

Joey blinked. "What the..."

"Noo! The lines been cut off!", Tristan shrieked.

"What? But who would...."

Then, he looked up and saw Seto staring down at him with pure acidity in his eyes.

Joey gulped, but his statement came out just as pleasant and seamless as an everyday greeting.

"Yo, Seto."

Seto glared at him, and snatched the receiver from out his hands. "Just what do you think you were doing?"

Joey shrugged. "Ey! I'm just orderin' some carry-out, just like you said!"

"Out of all the restaurants in this neighborhood, you choose to order the Sushi Deluxe!?"

"Yeah, so?", Joey scoffed, like it was no big deal. "You got a lot of money, don't ya?"

Feeling his anger rising, Seto neared very close to Joey in an upset fashion as he set the receiver down, and grabbed hold of the whole phone.

"That's---besides.---THE POINT, you mutt!!"

-THWACK!!-

Seto hit Joey with the phone!

"Hey!!", Tristan bellowed, while Joey immediately whimpered and held his head, "Don't you dare hit Joey like that!"

Joey was barley able to look at Tristan with relieved puppy dog eyes. "Tristan!! My man!"

"Heh. With me being his best buddy, I'M the only guy who can hit him!!"

"WHAT!?"

-THRAKKET!-

Tristan smacked Joey upside the back of his head!!

After all these years, it appears that these three haven't really changed much at all.

As for Ryou, he was upstairs in the bathroom, getting chewed out by his Yami for acting like such a sissy from getting a little wet.

--

Do you want to see more of that in the next chapter (Ryou and Bakura's little fuss), yes or no? It will deter a bit from the main story, but as until the extra guys leave, they will have a bit of a focus.

-Mel


	4. Her and Kay

Controversial Sorority

Chapter 4

--

"Ah! The water's cold!!" Ryou yelped, jumping back in the shower, rubbing his arms.

Ever since Joey spilled his juice all over him, Ryou felt like he needed to wash the sticky feeling off of him, even if his darker half called him names about being so clean.

Instantly, an image of Bakura emerged from the Millennium Ring with a rich scowl already on his face.

"Boy, don't be such a sissy!! It's just a little cold water! It can't kill you!", he growled, splashing some of the water on his counterpart.

Ryou recoiled with a shriek at the shock of the sudden coldness on his tender skin, and almost slipped on the tub's surface. Bakura simply watched him with a scowl on his face, then sighed when Ryou finally did fall over.

Offended, Bakura turned his face away from the guy. "Tmph. Why am I cursed with a body like yours..? Clumsy." With a scoff, Bakura crossed his arms and waited for Ryou to get to at least to a kneel.

Rubbing his head, Ryou looked upto his Yami with innocent tan opals. "I'm sorry!But---but you don't like the cold, either."

Bakura rolled his eyes. "Shush!" With that, he retreated back into the Millennium Ring.

Ryou held the ring in his hands, and stared at it; his mind becoming flooded with curious remarks and questions.

It had been 3 years now since he let Bakura take complete control over him. What if he turned the tables? He didn't have to obey nor listen to everything his Yami said to him.

All the torture and rude comments, it burned deep inside him, bubbling up from within.

Suddenly, he heard some voices outside the bathroom door.

Curious, and forgetting his nudity, he crept out of the shower and pressed his back up against the bathroom door to get a better listen.

"I'm sorry, Yugi."

Ryou winced. It was Téa's voice.

There was a pause then, Yugi's reply came afterwards. "Oh no, it's perfectly all right."

Téa smiled warmly at Yugi. Among them all, Yugi was the main one who practically stayed the same. Nothing about him changed, personality-wise. But he had cut his hair a little.

It still looked the same, spiky in the usual places, but his bangs were a lot shorter and out of his face.

He was still quite the sight to be seen---in her opinion, anyway.

And she loved him for that.

"Hmm? Is there something on my face, Téa?"

"Huh?" The sound of her name pulled her out of her trance. She had been staring at him. Blushing at her folly, she briskly turned away and covered her cheeks. "I! I'm sorry, Yugi!!"

Ryou pressed his ear closer against the door as he heard Yugi laughing.

That Yugi.

He was always the charmer.

"Becoming quite the jealous little tyro, aren't we?"

Ryou groaned at the sarcastic tone of his Yami, who appeared instantly beside him. "Please, would you just shut up?"

"What was that!?" Bakura seethed, grabbing Ryou by the hair and forcing his back against the door. "Are you addressing me, tenderfoot?!"

Ryou opened one eye as he tried to give Bakura sinister glare. "Get off of me!", he yelled, pushing against his yami, but Bakura had a firmer grip on him, and pushed him harder against the door.

His face very close to Ryou's, he hissed at him. "Don't you ever try anything like that again."

"Um...was that Bakura?" Téa asked rhetorically.

Feeling confident, Yugi got a determined look on his face and got in front of Téa, pressing his ear against the door.

"I'm--I'm not afraid of you, anymore!" Ryou yelled back, loosening out of Bakura's grip and tripping him up. Once his darker other was off of him, Ryou exhaled deeply, and laid up against the door until he regained the proper oxygen.

"Heh..not bad.." Bakura mused, wiping the faintest hint of blood from across his lips. Once satisfied, he gave Ryou one last glare before going back into the Millennium Ring.

At that moment, Yugi burst through the door "Ryou, are you all---AHH!!!"

The moment Yugi turned away was the same moment Téa grabbed him by the arm and yanked him out of the bathroom.

She sighed. "...This just isn't your day, Yugi."

In the bathroom, after allowing his thoughts to register, Ryou recomposed himself, and walked over to the shower, turning the water off.

Staring into space, he recalled the scene between him and his yami.

Ryou had beaten him. He had finally bested his nemesis and won his respect---maybe.

"....I did it...", he panted, "I did it."

//Yeah yeah. You got lucky, this time. I never asked to copy your body in th first place, let alone share it with you! You little parasite!//

"Mm.." Ryou didn't comprehend what his Yami said. He just heard Bakura's voice and without knowing, responded to it.

Then, allowing a short interval to pass, Ryou got back into the shower and turned on the water, allowing it's steamy vapors to lift and carry his worries and trappings away.

--

-SHUT-

With an exhausted groan, Téa leaned up against the door to Mokuba's room and looked upwards to the ceiling.

She had just let Yugi take a break from all the strange happenings going on with him in the middle of it all.

She sighed and closed her eyes. She would admit that there was something that she liked about Yugi. But what she wasn't sure about was, was that "something" everything to her about him? Or was there another something more that was missing?

A faint smirk drew across her lips as the man she previously been going out with waltzed into her mind.

"Seto."

What a smooth guy he was. He had even begun hiring official professionals to come to his mansion every other Thursdays and Saturdays to personally give him dancing class sessions.

But Téa wondered, were the classes really just for him, or was he trying to impress her in the process? Was she wrong about thinking he hadn't changed very much since they dated?

Téa chuckled, and smoothed a loose lock of hair behind her ear.

Get real! This was Seto Kaiba she was talking about here! He NEEDED no approaches such as that of the typical man.

But still, it was rather amusing to assume so.

"Hey."

Opening her eyes, she found herself directly face to face with Seto himself.

Embarrassed, she adverted her eyes away from his.

"G-good morning---again."

A smirk slithered across Seto's lips as pressed his hands against the wall, trapping Téa in.

Remembering her little frolicking with Yugi that morning, Seto's eyes narrowed without him knowing.

Téa looked up to Seto with curious eyes--eyes that seemed to tear straight through him.

Reaching up to his shirt's sleeve, she tugged on it, and cocked her head towards his room.

"Seto...we have to talk."

--

Once in his room, the two comforted themselves with sitting on his bed while conversing.

While Téa spoke, Seto watched with unexplainable perplexity to relation to the first time they met in school.

She would always talk about something outrageous or contradictory to itself. All the time, it was something about this, and something about that.

Oddly, he used to wonder what made her tick. Must be the natural hacker in him, talking there.

"Well?"

Slipping out of his trance, Seto shook his head and gave Téa his full attention. "Hmm? I'm sorry, did you say something?"

".....Well welcome back....wherever you were. I asked why didn't you ever take me ice skating when I asked you a few months back?"

Seto sighed, and lay backwards on the bed, looking away from her. "I told you, it was on account of business. I couldn't pass the opportunity up, you know that. Why did you ask me a foolish thing like that?"

Téa scoffed and placed her hands on either side of him on the bed. She took it upon herself to move closer to him until their faces were 5 inches apart in length. Seto, in turn, gave no reaction.

"I'm sorry, Kay."

A frown overtook Seto's composed features as he recalled that accursed nickname she used to call him close to the first weeks they started going out.

Téa giggled at the effect the nickname still had on him. "Remember when I first called you Kay? I remember. You didn't like that name......"

Seto half-smiled.

He never liked it, but he tolerated it.

Why? Because if he didn't say something positive about it, he'd end up being nagged for the next five hours or so.

So, to prevent anymore nails in the coffin, he kept his comments to himself and told Téa just what she wanted to hear.

"Oh--another thing. ", Tea added, leaning back on her palms to give Seto some breathing room.

He responded with a cocked eyebrow.

"Why is it---that you never carried me in your arms?"

Seto was struck speechless by her question. Wordlessly, he took her by the shoulders and brushed his thumb across her smooth, flawless skin. Deeply, he stared intently into her eyes.

Those were the exact same eyes that at one time had spun him for a loop once before.

Needless to say, he wanted to be a part of that loop again.

The fact that he didn't carry her in his arms was because of him believing that only his wife or fiancé would be granted that privilege.

It was kind of like a safeguard for him.

Wordlessly, Seto slid Téa closer to him on the bed.

Brushing a few thin strands of stray hair from out of her eyes, he tauntingly leaned forward.

With their foreheads touching and his lips temptingly close to hers, he whispered: "Because…"

"Because…", Téa inquired, cupping his cheek, and inching forward to kiss him.

Not wanting a kiss, Seto lightly took hold of her hand, and placed it at her side on the bed.

Before a protest could fly out of her mouth, Seto cupped his whole hand over it.

He knew in the back of his mind that Téa liked Yugi, but the fact that she was still behaving like his girlfriend again was constantly throwing Seto off at where they stood as individuals.

Adding to that, he didn't like the feeling of being obliged nor guilty towards Yugi—for anything.

Of course Seto still cared for Téa, but it was her who insisted they brake up, and now here she was still chasing after his lips, while trying to hook-up with Yugi as well!

Guess Seto was that irresistible, huh?

Growing annoyed at Seto's behavior, Téa grabbed his hand and tried to pry his hand away while nagging at him---but her sharp words came out in empty and muffled threats.

Téa usually lost her temper when she didn't have her way. Seto remembered that tidbit very well.

Yep, these were just some of the typical times where Seto would label Tea as being a royal pain in the—

Suddenly loud noises rose up from the bottom floor to the bedroom. It sounded a lot like a mixtures of pop music.

Quickly dropping their actions, Téa and Seto stopped what they were doing to listen intently for the distinguishing of the sound.

Téa quickly sat up and strained her ears to listen. "What's that?"

Seto said nothing. He knew the upbeat tempo of the song, but the title of it just slipped his mind.

He recalled it being something of Téa's liking. Just as he was about to inform her, Téa screamed and tumbled onto the floor.

Springing up, she growled. "IT'S BRITNEY!"

With that, she ran out of the room, shouting over her shoulder to Seto.

"We'll finish this later! Don't think that it's over!"

And off she fled to catch Joey in a headlock and wring his neck for messing with her most precious "Overprotected" CD!

Waiting until the stomping of her socked feet faded from the upper-level, Seto sighed and ran a hand through his hair; Téa's previous words striking him in a different way.

" 'Don't think that this is over!' "

With a grave mutter, Seto contradicted. "Yes it is."

It was over for the both of them and she had to realize that more than himself..

It hurt, but if it was what Téa really wanted, then he wouldn't stand in the way of her happiness.

Now irritated, and feeling rather feeble and outdone, Seto carelessly fell back on the mattress with his arms spread-eagle; his icy blue eyes gluing themselves to the ceiling.

During a series of random thoughts, Seto remembered that "a Joey" had slept in his bed, and he quickly sat up. Muttering and grumbling curses, he pushed himself off the mattress and dragged his feet down the hall to Mokuba's room in search of his vacuum.

--

Slowly, the door to Mokuba's room creaked open and the light from the windows spilled through the cracks in the door, rising up to the bed where Yugi slept.

Seto felt his eyes narrow at this. Not only because Yugi was in Mokuba's bed, but more so over the fact that it was Téa who put him there.

And she really tucked him in too.

Seto wondered, did she give him a goodnight kiss, as well?

Shaking his head, he tried to clear the frivolous thought from his head, but envy –green sparkles of reminisces still lingered.

Getting annoyed by his sudden childishness, Seto grumbled, and proceeded to walk across the room to the closet where his little brother's vacuum resided.

Opening the closet door, she scrunched his nose at all the clutter that was in there.

Old copies of video game cartridges, several jump ropes, a cracked duel disk, battered Barbie accessories and----Mokuba was such a pack-rat!

"…Little brother…", Seto sighed, shaking his head.

As he did so, the soft and leveled breathing of Yugi drifted into Seto's ears.

Ironically, turning to face him, Seto felt a twinge of jealousy rise in him, causing a muscle in his jaw to tense.

That Yugi……

Yugi seemed to innocently take everything worth meaning away from him.

He had acclaimed his first Duel Monsters defeat by Yugi; he almost lost a second time to Yugi back when Pegasus had Mokuba sealed in a card; he even lost part of his pride to Yugi, and now he'd lost his ex-girlfriend to Yugi too!?!!

Sharply adverting his gaze from the guy, Seto forced himself to resume looking for that accursed vacuum as a diversion .

Amongst sifting through all the clutter, a few thoughts came to mind, but he didn't bother to waste his time pining over them.

Actually, it wasn't Yugi who underhandedly did those things to him---it was his alter ego---the one that Téa had a crush on since their Freshman year.

And she still probably had some sort of….girly crush or whatever on him.

So…if Téa liked Yami all this time, why did she ever take a likeness in Seto, let alone go out with him?

It just didn't make any sense.

"Damn it.", Seto mumbled.

He was so close to losing his temper, that he didn't even realize that he had been literally clawing through Mokuba's stuff, leaving absolute piles of junk around his feet on the floor.

He had completely forgotten about the vacuum.

Rushing himself to hurry up and find it, Seto grabbed it by the handle and yanked it out of the closet.

Upon looking it over, he nearly threw it down in irritation.

"It had to be Barbie….."

Without another hint of dolor, Seto about faced. Kicking mindless oddities from his brother's closet that was in the way, Seto left out the door.

Unknown to the Owner of Kaiba Corp, a pair of eyes of a fiery hue watched him leave.

--

-Mel


End file.
